Paterson EHS Ghosts celebrate their 65th Reunion
By Mel Fabrikant Sunday, April 15, 2007, 05:00 PM EDT
The Class of January, 1942, will celebrate their 65th Class Reunion on May 6th at the Crowne Plaza in Paramus. Class President Al Kachadurian and Class Vice President Janet (White) Kachadurian will be there to greet and welcome everyone. According to the Kachadurians, there will be over 50 people from all over the USA to help celebrate this momentous occasion. If you do your math, one will recognize the age group involved! Here are some facts: The Class of ’42 was the first class to graduate after the start of World War II.
Their football team was the first in the HS history to win the State Championship (1941). Co-captains of that team were Al Kachadurian and Larry Doby. The ’41 baseball team won the County Championship again with Kachadurian and Doby as co-captains. Yes, it is the same Larry Doby who made who became a prominent pro baseball player. EHS Track Team was undefeated for 10 years in dual meets. Known as the Ghosts or the Undertakers, the name was ascribed to the fact that their sport field was built over a former burial grounds. This did not affect their stellar performance!
Held every five years since graduation, there was a question raised as to the validity of having one in 2007. The leader of the Reunion Committee, Ben Rozenzweig had passed away in the interim and the other committee members were dubious about the attendance. Ben was a crucial figure in past Reunions. A good leader has a good team and when I was asked to chair the Committee for 2007, little did I know of the tremendous support Ben had made available.
We started off with meetings at the Kachadurian home in Hawthorne and continued when they left for their winter sojourn in Florida. With a flurry of phone calls and e-mails, the campaign was underway. Not being a detail person, Elsie (Botwick) Kaufman and Carolyn (Barth) Abramson volunteered to do the bookkeeping and the mailings. They are a dynamic duo! (Judge) Arthur Minuskin assumed responsibility for the Publicity, Marge (Breen) Egedy once again volunteered for the floral arrangements, Fran (Fay Mandel) Sax took over the memento gift, Lou Silvestri checked on past attendees while Iggy Nachimson contacted people in Florida where he lives and also put it on the Classmates website.
Not willing to meet the minimums for attendance at major catering halls, the team went to Maureen Moran, manager of The Crowne Plaza at Paramus Park , a fellow Rotarian. In turn, Maureen turned us over to the very capable Christene O’Neill, Catering Sales Manager. Christene arranged for an equitable solution at an affordable price. Her cooperation has been outstanding.
As of today, there will be over 50 people, classmates, spouses and friends in attendance. Not bad when you consider that 5 years ago, we had about 85 in attendance.
Their football team was the first in the HS history to win the State Championship (1941). Co-captains of that team were Al Kachadurian and Larry Doby. The ’41 baseball team won the County Championship again with Kachadurian and Doby as co-captains. Yes, it is the same Larry Doby who made who became a prominent pro baseball player. EHS Track Team was undefeated for 10 years in dual meets. Known as the Ghosts or the Undertakers, the name was ascribed to the fact that their sport field was built over a former burial grounds. This did not affect their stellar performance!
Held every five years since graduation, there was a question raised as to the validity of having one in 2007. The leader of the Reunion Committee, Ben Rozenzweig had passed away in the interim and the other committee members were dubious about the attendance. Ben was a crucial figure in past Reunions. A good leader has a good team and when I was asked to chair the Committee for 2007, little did I know of the tremendous support Ben had made available.
We started off with meetings at the Kachadurian home in Hawthorne and continued when they left for their winter sojourn in Florida. With a flurry of phone calls and e-mails, the campaign was underway. Not being a detail person, Elsie (Botwick) Kaufman and Carolyn (Barth) Abramson volunteered to do the bookkeeping and the mailings. They are a dynamic duo! (Judge) Arthur Minuskin assumed responsibility for the Publicity, Marge (Breen) Egedy once again volunteered for the floral arrangements, Fran (Fay Mandel) Sax took over the memento gift, Lou Silvestri checked on past attendees while Iggy Nachimson contacted people in Florida where he lives and also put it on the Classmates website.
Not willing to meet the minimums for attendance at major catering halls, the team went to Maureen Moran, manager of The Crowne Plaza at Paramus Park , a fellow Rotarian. In turn, Maureen turned us over to the very capable Christene O’Neill, Catering Sales Manager. Christene arranged for an equitable solution at an affordable price. Her cooperation has been outstanding.
As of today, there will be over 50 people, classmates, spouses and friends in attendance. Not bad when you consider that 5 years ago, we had about 85 in attendance.
